Southfield's Marshall Has More History-Making in Mind as Senior Season Revs Up
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
August 31, 2023
SOUTHFIELD – No matter what Southfield Arts & Technology senior quarterback Isaiah Marshall accomplishes from here on out in football, he can claim one distinction not even many all-time greats have achieved.
When Marshall was in seventh grade, he got a college scholarship offer from a Power 5 college program.
Yes, you read that correctly. He was in seventh grade.
While University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was at the school to scout another player from Southfield A&T at the time, Marshall’s father Brian and uncle Aaron gave Harbaugh a tape of Isaiah’s highlights up through his seventh-grade year.
That was good enough for Harbaugh, who offered Marshall a scholarship then despite his youth.
“I was surprised because getting an offer wasn’t on my mind when I was in seventh grade,” Marshall said.
So, that was the beginning point of Marshall’s courtship to play college football. It hasn’t stopped since, and now the question is whether it will continue all the way up to signing day in December.
Starting his last year of high school, Marshall – also known as “Zeke” – has established himself as arguably the best quarterback in the history of any Southfield program, and certainly one of the best dual-threat signal callers in the state.
Marshall might be committed to Kansas and plans to enroll in January after this Southfield A&T semester is done, but odds are good that won’t stop other programs from continuing to pursue him, especially if he has the big senior season many expect.
“There are still some coaches that talk to the head coach of my school,” he said. “But I personally haven’t talked to any.”
Last year as a junior, Marshall threw for 2,571 yards and 27 touchdowns and ran for 1,065 yards and 18 scores as Southfield A&T finished 8-3 and won the Oakland Activities Association White championship.
Marshall’s coach is his uncle, Aaron Marshall, who obviously could see seeds of greatness being planted in his nephew from a young age.
“As he grew up and grew older and training him, he really kind of embraced everything,” Aaron Marshall said. “He was always a really good listener. He was always mild-mannered (and) had signs of someone who wanted to do something, not really being forced to do it. As a kid, you definitely saw some foreshadowing that he had something special because of his focus and attention at such a young age.”
His senior year got off to a great start Saturday, when he went 15 of 25 for 210 yards and three touchdowns passing and rushed for 80 yards and the game-winning score in a 29-27 Southfield A&T win over Detroit Cass Tech.
Marshall rushed for the clinching touchdown with 54 seconds remaining, a 16-yard scamper to the end zone on a 4th-and-5 play.
“If I have a hole, I’m going to take it,” Isaiah Marshall said. “Just like that last play when I scored, I told myself that if I had a hole, I was going to take it.”
While he is a major problem for defenses when he runs, Marshall is actually trying to improve his ability as a pocket passer this year as he prepares for college.
“Just staying in the pocket more, staying balanced, staying consistent and making great reads,” he said. “I’ve tried to do less (running) and try to get the ball to my receivers more. But at the end of the day, I’m going to try and do what I have to in order to help my team win.”
Marshall, the son of past Northwestern University player and Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice standout Brian Marshall, has grown up around Southfield A&T football – Brian is among Aaron Marshall's assistants – and has seen many good teams and future college players come through the program.
But the Warriors have never advanced to a state championship game, and making program history is obviously a major motivation.
“We have 29 seniors, so I think that’s a big part of what we can do this year,” he said.
Given how he’s watched Isaiah grow up physically and in the game, Aaron Marshall knows if anyone can lead the Warriors to history, it’s his nephew.
“He’s even more vocal now as a senior,” he said. “Kids really latch on to him because of his work ethic. He wants the best for everybody, and he’s such a team guy. When he speaks, they really pay attention.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
PHOTOS (Top) Isaiah Marshall (red jersey) is off to another fast start as a senior this fall for Southfield A&T. (Middle) Marshall (97) works with his offense during a practice earlier this month. (Photos by Ricardo Thornton/RT Studios.)
Harbor Beach Finds Stride Early, Holds Off Hudson in Matchup of Unbeatens
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 28, 2025
DETROIT – Caden Bucholtz walked out of Ford Field with more than a Division 8 Football Finals title on Friday.
He also took home family bragging rights.
Bucholtz and several of his Harbor Beach teammates had fathers who played on the school’s 1991 Class C runner-up squad.
“We got one up on them,” Bucholtz said with a smile.
Those fathers are likely OK with that after watching their sons defeat Hudson 31-20 to wrap up a perfect 14-0 season and claim the second Finals title in program history.
“Great game, the guys just played their hearts out just like they have all year,” said Harbor Beach coach Troy Schelke, who also coached the 2012 title team. “We knew we were going to play a tough game and we were going to play the best we could, and we did that. Hudson was a great opponent. They were here for a reason. We had to finish the play right until the end when we took the knee.”
Bucholtz led the way for the Pirates, with 146 yards and one touchdown on the ground, adding 82 yards and two TDs through the air on 5-of-8 passing.
The 6-foot-1, 225-pound senior made play after play to keep Hudson at arm’s length throughout the game.
“We just couldn’t get off the field sometimes; their quarterback made some great plays,” Hudson coach Dan Rogers said. “Every time they needed a play and we needed to get off the field, their quarterback made great plays and he’s a great player. Credit goes to them.”
Harbor Beach looked to have put a stranglehold on the game early, building a 21-0 lead just inside 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
While Hudson’s offense had put up massive numbers all season, it didn’t seem built for comebacks, as it did nearly all of its damage on the ground leading up to Friday – rushing for more than 5,200 yards on the season, and attempting fewer than 50 passes.
The Pirates were similarly built, but it was Bucholtz’s arm that did a lot of the early damage.
He found Skiler Kruse for a 15-yard touchdown pass on Beach’s first drive, and tight end Matt Geiger on a 19-yard TD on its second.
Geiger’s TD was set up by a Harbor Beach fumble recovery at the Hudson 27.
“We knew they could throw,” Rogers said. “They haven’t had to much, but we knew the quarterback could run and throw, and they’ve got two really good tight ends. They have weapons, running backs out of the backfield. I wouldn’t say they threw more (than he thought), but they did a good job executing it.”
The Tigers did find some success on their next drive, but it ended on downs at the Harbor Beach 37.
Just four plays later, the Pirates had stretched their lead to three scores with a 25-yard touchdown run from Bucholtz.
While the Tigers (13-1) did get one stop and make enough big plays to keep things close, they never had the ball with a chance to tie, as Harbor Beach’s offense answered each time the lead was cut to a single score.
That included a 20-yard field goal by Kruse that made the score 31-20 with two minutes to play, all but sealing the victory.
It was fully sealed when Benson Harper intercepted a pass in the endzone with 26 seconds to play.
“(The early lead) was huge because (Hudson) never quit,” Schelke said. “They kept coming back and kept cutting it, and we kept answering back. A 21-point lead, we’ll take that any time. We had to make some stops defensively, and had to finish some scores. Had to bang in a big field goal at the end, and pick one off at the end, then take a knee. Great game, great year, great program here.”
Grayson Bills had a pair of touchdown runs to help keep Hudson in the game, of 15 and five yards. He finished the game with 148 yards rushing, which included a 41-yard run in the final minute of the first half that set the Tigers up in the redzone. They were unable to cash in, however, and trailed 21-6 as they entered the break.
Colt Perry had the other Hudson score, with a 53-yard run on the Tigers’ first possession of the second half. That, as well as Bills’ second TD, brought Hudson to within a score.
“I knew we could come back,” Bills said. “All season we’ve been working together. I had hope in our team and knew what we were capable of.”
Beckett Campbell, who rushed for more than 2,300 yards on the season, had 103 on Friday. Liam Timm and Devon Brigman led the Hudson defense with seven tackles apiece.
Kruse finished with 60 yards receiving on three catches for Harbor Beach, and added an 11-yard touchdown run to answer Perry’s score in the third quarter.
John Learman led the Pirates defense with 16 tackles. Harper, who was slowed for much of the season because of an injury, had 10 tackles to go along with his game-sealing interception.
That pick set off a full-on celebration from the Harbor Beach half of the stadium, which had been plenty loud throughout.
“It was everything to us,” Bucholz said. “It felt like the whole town was behind us no matter what. They were just there to support us. Whatever the outcome I think they would have still been there no matter what.”
PHOTOS (Top) Harbor Beach coach Troy Schelke hands off his team’s championship trophy to his players Friday at Ford Field. (2) Skiler Kiser (80) elevates to haul in a touchdown catch. (Below) The Pirates’ Benson Harper (10) works to break out of the grasp of Hudson’s Colt Perry.